PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The city of Portland plans to pay ,000 to a man who says he was wrongfully tackled and arrested by police in riot gear at an anti-Donald Trump protest in 2016.Daniel Martinez, of Forest Grove, said police mistook him for a suspect in a car vandalism that had occurred...

ROSEBURG, Ore. (AP) — Inside a room at the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians' new tribal community center are three framed sketch drawings by a Native artist.K'Ehleyr McNulty, the tribe's youth development specialist, pointed to a drawing of a traditional Cow Creek home — a...

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — After a humbling performance in the season opener, Missouri's defense has taken out its frustration on two straight opponents, including a 50-0 shutout of Southeast Missouri on Saturday night.The Tigers (2-1) held the Redhawks (1-2) to 94 total yards."Our defense played...

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Southeast Missouri State coach Tom Matukewicz probably cringed just a little bit when he watched film of Missouri's first-half destruction of rebuilding West Virginia last week.Then he probably cringed a little more when he watched the second half.The Tigers bounced back...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

A person who directed racist taunts at Portland Thorns' goalkeeper Adrianna Franch has been banned from attending National Women's Soccer League games.A fan at the Sept. 6 game between the Thorns and Utah Royals in Salt Lake City first called attention to the unidentified person on Twitter. The...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Two major opposition parties in Malaysia forged a political alliance Saturday to consolidate support from the country's majority ethnic Malay Muslims, a move that could threaten Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government in the next general election.Mahathir's...

ATLANTA (AP) — Marianne Williamson's voice dropped to a near whisper, then soared preacher-style to the rafters."There are more lovers than haters in America. But those who hate, hate with conviction, and conviction is a force multiplier," she said. "That is why we need a politics of love...

ENTERTAINMENT

NEW YORK (AP) — Jean Edward Smith, a prize-winning historian known for his books on Franklin Roosevelt and Ulysses Grant, has died. He was 86.Simon & Schuster confirmed his death Friday but did not immediately have further details.A longtime professor at the University of Toronto, Smith...

BOSTON (AP) — "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman was sentenced Friday to 14 days in prison for paying ,000 to rig her daughter's SAT scores, tearfully apologizing to the teenager for not trusting her to get into college on her own."I was frightened, I was stupid, and I was so...

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, actress Jane Fonda and attorney Gloria Allred were among the inductees at the National Women's Hall of Fame on Saturday.The Class of 2019 inducted into the hall in upstate New York also included activist Angela Davis , attorney Sarah Deer, fashion...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Six Emirati troops have been killed in a "collision," the United Arab...

Les Christie CNN Money

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The number of homes lost to foreclosure is closing in on levels not seen since before the housing meltdown.

Foreclosure filings -- including notices of default, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions -- during the first quarter fell 23% from a year earlier, the lowest level since the second quarter of 2007.

Last month, banks repossessed just under 44,000 homes. In September 2010, repossessions topped 100,000 a month.

"We're getting back to normal and will be there by next year," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

For the past couple of years, foreclosures have been on the decline as homeowners seek alternatives like short sales, in which they sell their home for less than what they owe and the bank agrees to forgive the difference.

The deals are preferred by the banks over foreclosures and have less of a negative impact on a consumer's credit score. But now even the need to turn to short sales is waning.

Government initiatives, like the Home Affordable Modification Program and Home Affordable Refinance Program, have helped millions of borrowers avoid foreclosure. And last spring, under a $25 billion settlement deal with state and federal officials, the nation's largest mortgage lenders agreed to help struggling borrowers by lowering their mortgage rates, reducing their principal and other fixes.

Now, the landscape of foreclosures is starting to look a lot like it did in the pre-bust years, said Blomquist.

A larger percentage of the nation's foreclosure activity is occurring in areas suffering from severe economic problems, such as "Rust Belt" cities like Rockford, Ill. and Chicago, not in the recently-developed, mid-to-upper class neighborhoods of California, Florida and Arizona that were hit hardest when the housing bubble burst, he said.

And many of the people who lose their homes now are dealing with a layoff or personal issue, such as a divorce, illness or death in the family, said Blomquist. During the housing bust, people were forced to default because of plunging home prices and unaffordable mortgage terms.

There are some states that are still struggling with a backlog of foreclosures like Florida, Illinois and Georgia, all states where courts oversee the foreclosure process. Florida had more than twice as many bank repossessions as any other state in March -- nearly 7,600. Illinois, with more than 3,500, was second and Georgia, with 3,350, was third.

With prices expected to continue to rise -- they were up more than 8% year-over-year in January -- the number of short sales should continue to fall, and so should foreclosures, according to Blomquist.